Tracking the location of your devices

To view the location of your devices, the Geolocation Tracking policy needs to be activated in one or more policy groups and the devices must meet the system requirements.

The location of a stolen device is not shown in the console. After the device's theft investigation is closed, the device's current location becomes available.

The Secure Endpoint Agent detects and uploads location information at different intervals depending on the device's platform type. Learn more

To see when a device's location was last uploaded, use Edit Columns to add the Geolocation Tracking > Last data received column to a page or report.

After you activate the Geolocation Tracking policy, it may take up to 24 hours for your active device's location information to be available in the Secure Endpoint Console. For offline devices, their location won't be available until they come online and check in to the Absolute Monitoring Center.

On any page that shows the following icon in the page's toolbar, you can switch from grid view to map view to see the geographical location of your devices:

This icon is available in most views in the Devices area and in most reports.

Depending on your Absolute product licenses and the configuration of your account, the icon, and therefore map view, may not be available.

To view the location of your devices:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console as a user with View permissions for Geolocation.
2. Open a page or report that shows devices in a grid. For example, open the All Devices page in the Devices area or open the Makes and Models report.

3. Click to switch from grid view to map view. You can work with the map in the following ways:

   Action	Details
   Go to a particular location	Begin entering the city, state, province, or country name in the Search area field. You can also search by street address or building name. From the list of options that shows, select the applicable location. The map refreshes to show that location. If you entered a street address or building name, use one of the Zoom in actions to zoom in from city-level view to address level view. Depending on the permissions associated with your role, you may not be able to zoom in beyond city-level view.
   Search for a particular device	Enter all or part of the keyword in the search field and click Search or press Enter. The map refreshes to show updated markers .
   Filter the devices shown on the map	Click the icon next to the page's existing filters and add one or more filters.
   Zoom in	Do one of the following: With the mouse pointer on the map, rotate the wheel button on your mouse upward. Double-click the map location that you want to zoom in to. Double-click a marker to zoom in and view the location of the devices represented by the marker. Click the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right of the map. To view a different area of the map after you've zoomed in, drag the map until the desired area is in view. Depending on the permissions associated with your role, you may not be able to zoom in beyond city-level view.
   Zoom out	Do one of the following: With the mouse pointer on the map, rotate the wheel button on your mouse downward. Double right-click the map. Click the minus (-) symbol in the bottom right of the map.
   View details about devices in a particular location	Click a marker . The page refreshes to add a device report under the map. The report includes the device, or devices, represented by the marker. To resize the map to show more or less of the grid, drag the frame between the two areas. To manage the device grid's columns: Click to close the map. Click > Edit columns and add or remove columns as desired. Your edits are applied to the results grid in both grid view and map view. Click to return to map view. To view a device's Device Details page, including its Location History tab, click its device name. To perform an action on one or more devices in the report, select the checkbox next to each device and then click the applicable action button, such as Freeze or Run script. To close the device grid and return to full map view, do either of the following: Click the map. Hover over the frame between the two areas and click .
   Switch between Map and Satellite view	Click the applicable button on the Map | Satellite toggle.
   Refresh the map's data	Click (Refresh the page) in the page footer.
   Close map view	Click to close map view and return to the previous page or report.

Devices that show in grid view may not show in map view if:

• The devices are associated with a policy group in which the Geolocation Tracking policy is not activated.
• The devices have not checked in to the Absolute Monitoring Center since the Geolocation Tracking policy was activated.
• The device is reported stolen.

If only IP Locations are available for a device, one of the following conditions may apply:

• Geolocation technologies, or location settings or services, are turned off on the device
• If the device is a Mac device, a user is not logged in Learn more

• The accuracy of the detected location is low

  To view the detected accuracy, follow the steps in the next section.

To view information about the location of your devices:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console as a user with View permissions for Geolocation.
2. Open a page or report that shows devices in a grid. For example, open the All Devices page in the Devices area or open the Makes and Models report.

3. Click Edit Columns and add the following columns to the page or report:

   • Geolocation Tracking >

     • Last data received: the date and time when the device's location was last updated in the console

       At a minimum, this field is updated once a day when the daily scan occurs. For Windows and Mac devices, if the device changes its location between daily scans, the new location is promptly uploaded and this field is updated.

       If a device changes its location by less than 100 meters, the Last data received value is updated but no event is logged to the Events page.

     • Policy updated: the date and time when the Geolocation Tracking policy was activated or last updated

     • Status: the status of the Geolocation Tracking policy

       Possible values are Active, Inactive, Not Installed, Error, Unknown, and Unsupported.

   • Geolocation technology >

     • Accuracy (meters): the estimated accuracy of the technology used to locate the device in meters. For example, a value of 100 indicates that the reported location is accurate to within 100 meters of the device's actual location.

     • Type: possible values are Wi-Fi, OS Location, and IP Location

       IP Location only applies when the Geolocation setting is enabled in Account settings.

       About geolocation technologies

     • Wi-Fi error: the detected reason that a Wi-Fi location was not available for the device, if applicable

   • Device location >

     • City
     • State/Province
     • Country
     • Latitude and Longitude: the location coordinates of the device
     If a icon shows in the City, State/Province, and Country columns:

     • The Geolocation setting is enabled for your account, and

     • The location is based on the device's public IP address. Location accuracy may be low.

To be automatically notified when a device moves to an unexpected location, create a Location rule. Rules allow you to specify the geographical locations where your devices can (or can't) reside. If a device moves unexpectedly, you are sent an email notification so you can take the appropriate action.

You can also create an Action rule based on device location.

If Location rules or location-based Action rules are configured for your account, you can show the geofences A boundary that defines the geographical area within which you allow (or disallow) your devices to reside. associated with those rules on the map. You can then visually compare the location of your devices to the location of the geofences defined in the Location rules.

To show geofences on the map, select the Show geofences checkbox next to the Search field. Geofence View is enabled.

If any geofences exist in your account:

• a list of rules, and their associated geofences, shows to the right of the map
• geofence icons show on the map

Working with the rule list

You can work with the rule list in the following ways:

Action	Details
Search for a rule or geofence	Begin typing the rule or geofence's name in the search field. Search results update dynamically as you type.
View a rule's geofences on the map	Click the rule's background. The map refreshes to show the rule's geofence markers in focus while all other markers are dimmed.
View or edit a rule's configurations To edit rule configurations, your user role needs to be granted Manage permissions for Rules.	Hover over the rule and click View rule. Learn more about setting rule configurations
Edit a rule's custom geofence Your user role needs to be granted Manage permissions for Rules.	Click Edit next to the geofence name. Learn more about working with custom geofences If the Edit link is not shown, the item is a location, not a custom geofence. To update a location, click View rule.

Working with the map

Custom geofences are indicated on the map by a icon, while locations are indicated by a icon.

Action	Details
View the name of a custom geofence	Hover over its icon. The name shows in a tooltip.
View a custom geofence's boundaries	Zoom in until the geofence's boundaries are visible. Boundaries can be polygons or circles. The icon is centered within the boundaries.
View the rule associated with a custom geofence	Click its icon. The geofence's rule is highlighted in the rule list. Click the icon again to remove the highlighting.
View the place name of a location	Hover over its icon. The place name shows in a tooltip. Note that there are no boundaries shown for a location.
View the rules associated with a location	Click its icon. The location's rule is highlighted in the rule list. If the location is used in multiple rules, all applicable rules are highlighted. Click the icon again to remove the highlighting.
View information about a device	Device markers are dimmed and disabled in Geofence View. To view details about a device of interest: Note the location of the device. Clear the Show geofences checkbox next to the Search field to disable Geofence View. Find the device's marker and click it. The page refreshes to add a device report under the map. If it appears that a device has broken a geofence boundary, check Event History to see if one of the following events was recently logged for the device: Device entered a geofence; Device exited a geofence. Since rules can be applied to individual device groups, the geofence may not apply to this particular device.
View all geofences for listed rules	Click Zoom map to all listed geofences at the bottom of the rule list. The map updates to show the custom geofences and locations associated with the rules currently shown in the rule list. If the rule list was filtered (using the Search field) before you clicked the link, the map shows the geofences for the filtered rule list.